FISCAL NOTE

FUND(S):

Sources of Revenue:

Other Fund Bottle Deposit Fund

Legislation creates:

A New Fund

Fiscal Note Summary

Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.

The purpose of this bill is to require the use of returnable containers for soft-drinks, soda water, carbonated natural or mineral water, other nonalcoholic carbonated drinks and for beer, ale or other malt drinks of any alcoholic content and for certain other beverage containers; to require the use of unredeemed bottle deposits; prescribe the powers and duties of certain state agencies and officials; and to prescribe penalties and remedies.

This fiscal note is being prepared based on the assumption that the Department of Health and Human Resources is the responsible agency identified under Chapter 20, Section 10, Article 4 in the legislation.

The bill would require the Department of Health and Human Resources to certify each redemption center prior to its operation. The Department would be responsible for establishing the requirements for certification, as well as, reviewing and evaluating the continued compliance with the certification requirements.

The Department estimates that in order to fulfill the requirements of this legislation an additional full time Registered Sanitarian would be required to manage the program and perform the necessary inspections to insure initial and continued compliance. Funding for this full time position could come from the Bottle Deposit Fund established in the legislation. In order to implement the program prior to collecting any bottle deposit fees an appropriation would be necessary to fund costs until enough revenues are secured to make it self sufficient.

Memorandum

As previously mentioned, the Department prepared this fiscal note based on the assumption that we are the responsible agency identified in Chapter 20, Section 10, Article 4 of this bill. The Department is concerned about how this bill would impact the effectiveness and efficiency of the state recycling program.

In 1982 the authority for solid waste disposal was transferred from the Department of Health to the Department of Natural Resources and included as part of Chapter 20 of the West Virginia Code. In 1991, with the creation of the Division of Environmental Protection, the authority for solid waste management was again moved from the Department of Natural Resources to the newly created Division of Environmental Protection, under Chapter 22. Recycling is a program area that is tied directly to solid waste management. However, some solid waste authority remains in Chapter 20 and is housed in Department of Natural Resources' Environmental Resources Section. This section coordinates directly with the Division of Environmental Protection on solid waste and recycling issues. The implementation of the program described in this bill would result in an additional agency being involved which could result in a fractured recycling/solid waste program and have the potential to create unnecessary redundancies in state government operations.